The Five Great Royal Cities (2)

Fukaloss continued, "I have been a god for over thirteen hundred years. Both the Water element and the Law of Death are lower god laws."

"Clap, clap, clap, clap." The three of them, with keen eyes, began to applaud.

Fukaloss accepted the applause with an unchanged expression and said, "The paths Barn and Declan are taking are correct. I was once guided by an upper god who said that under the same elemental law, different profound mysteries can be fused, and the power of fused profound mysteries is more than ten times greater than that of individual profound mysteries!"

"Furthermore, fusing profound mysteries is easier before both profound mysteries have reached great accomplishment. Once they reach great accomplishment, it becomes incredibly difficult to fuse them again." Fukaloss looked at Barn and Declan, "So, if conditions permit, try your best to fuse the profound mysteries you comprehend. It will be of great benefit to your future cultivation path."

Gideon immediately understood Fukaloss's meaning and respectfully said, "Your subordinate will try his best to comprehend other laws of the Earth element."

Meanwhile, Barn took the opportunity to communicate with Declan soul-to-soul, "When did you comprehend the profound mystery of Shadow Clone?"

"During this recent seclusion. I reviewed those dark magic scrolls you collected, and there was a magic called Shadow Clone Technique that I gained some insight from. I've only just touched upon it and haven't even reached the introductory stage yet."

Beast magical abilities originate from bloodline inheritance, a gift from the supreme gods. As for what magic each type of beast will comprehend, it entirely depends on the supreme god's arrangement for that race. The Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon's inherited magic did not include Shadow Clone Technique. It was only after viewing Barn's collection that it gained some understanding of this magic, touching the edge of the profound mystery of Shadow Clone.

Barn recalled that when he was fighting Gideon just now, Declan seemed to have moved several meters sideways. In reality, it wasn't a sideways movement, but rather two shadow clones overlapping, and Declan's main body had shifted its position, making it appear as if he had moved sideways—the current Declan cannot make two shadow clones completely independent.

Fukaloss looked at the three newly recruited subordinates and nodded with satisfaction, "Although you had some past grievances, since there is no mortal enmity, for my sake, let's put it behind us."

"Yes, Miss!" The three responded in unison.

Fukaloss added, "The Ice Prison Royal City has a rule that the number of personnel in the Ice Blade Squad must be between five and ten. Once officially registered, you can receive missions in the Royal City and obtain corresponding rewards."

Since they had become squad members, Barn no longer held back and asked, "Miss, I have never interacted with gods before, so I don't know much about the major powers in Gobada. Could you please explain them to us?"

Declan and Gideon also nodded, their faces filled with eagerness.

Fukaloss cleared her throat and began to explain, "It's like this: the Gobada Plane and the Yulan Plane are two sides of the same coin, existing since ancient times. Experts above the Saint level were forced to come here to make a living for various reasons, which you already know."

"Understood." The three nodded.

"As time passed, the number of living beings in Gobada increased, and eventually, some individuals reached the pinnacle of the god level: upper gods!" Fukaloss paused and added, "To clarify, the god level is divided into upper gods, middle gods, and lower gods. There is a qualitative difference in divine power and soul strength between different tiers. As for how big the gap is, you'll know when you reach the god level."

Fukaloss took out several brightly colored fruits and distributed them among the three under their eager gazes, "It's not impossible to escape the Gobada Plane. There are five sealed passages in the entire space. Whenever Gobada becomes overcrowded, the Plane Overseer will randomly open one passage and release a portion of the imprisoned beings."

"In order to have a greater chance of leaving, the first upper gods chose to settle near the passages. This was the prototype of the Royal Cities—five passages, five Royal Cities."

Fukaloss took a bite of a fruit, its juice overflowing. The other three, their mouths watering, still couldn't bear to eat them. They carefully placed the fruits back into their respective spatial rings, intending to treasure them.

"As the number of gods increased, many gods began to gather around the five passages. During this time, there were indeed incidents where passages were opened. Thus, in order to get closer to the passages, gods began to fight amongst themselves."

"The order and hierarchy of the Royal Cities were formed during this period."

By now, Fukaloss had finished her fruit and sat up straight, her expression becoming a bit more serious, "Besides the opportunity to leave, there is another reason to contend for the Plane Passages—and that is elemental energy."

"Because it is separated from the Yulan Plane by only a sealing array, a faint elemental energy flows in from the Yulan Plane, forming an area suitable for survival near the passages. However, due to Gobada's special rules, this area is limited to within three miles of the passages."

"This is the territory of the five great Royal Cities."

Gideon couldn't help but ask, "Miss, do we have a chance to enter the Royal City?"

Fukaloss shook her head decisively, "No. The minimum requirement to enter a Royal City is to be a god or a direct blood relative of a god. And even for blood relatives, the quota for each resident is limited. The population of the five Royal Cities is generally around ten thousand. The spots have long been divided among gods and their descendants, making it difficult for Saint level individuals to enter."

Disappointment appeared on the faces of the three.

"Don't be discouraged," Fukaloss encouraged, "With me leading you, you will no longer need to spend a lot of time struggling for food. You will have more time to cultivate, and your chances of breaking through to the god level will naturally be much higher!"

Barn said, "Miss, we belong to the Ice Prison Royal City. You also mentioned before that our enemies are the Evil Royal City and the Azure Fire Royal City. What are they like?"

Barn knew about the Azure Fire King and the Evil King. As for the Ice Prison King, his strength was likely not much different. However, they were currently only Saint level, so the difference in strength between the top kings was temporarily meaningless to them.

"Our King! The Ice Prison King is a powerful expert who primarily cultivates the Water element. The Ice Prison Royal City he leads is located in the northern part of Gobada."

"There are also four other kings: the Evil King in the west, the Withered Glory King in the south, the Shadow King in the east, and the Azure Fire King in the center. Each of them leads a Royal City!"

"The kings naturally do not fight personally. They each organize their own armies and attack each other, seizing resources from enemy territories," Fukaloss said. "Currently, our Ice Prison Royal City and the Shadow Royal City are in an alliance, jointly opposing the Evil Royal City and the Azure Fire Royal City."

"Are the Evil Royal City and the Azure Fire Royal City allies?" Declan asked.

Fukaloss shook her head, "No, the Azure Fire Royal City has no allies and acts alone. The Evil Royal City and the Withered Glory Royal City in the south are allied."

The three nodded to show they understood. Being in the center yet not allied with any other Royal City, the Azure Fire Royal City was definitely the most powerful and overbearing force.

Gideon asked, "Miss, what are the main targets of contention between the Royal Cities? And what are our combat missions?"

Fukaloss looked at them and asked in return, "You are Saint level, have you likely seen plants?"

The three exchanged glances. The fruits Fukaloss had given them were still in their spatial rings, but they truly hadn't seen any place in Gobada where fruit could grow.

"Is it within the Royal City?" Barn ventured to ask.

"Fruits can indeed be grown within the Royal City, but after all, it's so crowded there that large-scale cultivation is impossible," Fukaloss said. "Actually, there are still some areas in Gobada with abundant elemental energy."

The three's eyes widened, and they held their breath, waiting for the other to reveal the answer.

Fukaloss pointed above their heads, where a space rift shimmered with colorful light, "When a space rift opens, elemental energy surges in from the spatial turbulence, forming a rich elemental environment within a certain range for a short period."

The three looked up. The terrifying nature of the space rift forced even upper gods to avoid its edge.

"And some areas in Gobada have stable production of space rifts, and not far from the ground. These areas can be transformed into regions suitable for creatures to live in, and even for growing crops."

The three suddenly understood.

Fukaloss added, "However, the main force protecting these areas is the Royal City army. Our Ice Blade Squad, as a supplementary force to the Royal City army, will mainly be tasked with plundering resources from the enemy's resource points."

The person, the dragon, and the bear finally understood the purpose of Fukaloss forming this team—those were fresh fruits, which were supreme delicacies for the creatures of Gobada who were constantly starving.

For gods, these scarce resources were far more precious than the lives of ordinary Saint level beings.

Of course, no matter how precious the fruit was, it was not as precious as the life of a god. Therefore, gods would not personally descend to fight for them. Instead, they would raise Saint level beings to be cannon fodder, while they themselves would sit back and reap the rewards.